Medicare Plan Leaving Pend Oreille County, WA: What to Do

Nearly a third of Pend Oreille County is 65 or older. OFM's 2025 estimate counted 4,438 seniors out of 13,947 residents, about 31.8%. Put that next to the map: about 1,400 square miles of land running up the Pend Oreille River through the Selkirk Mountains, two neighboring Idaho counties to the east (Bonner and Boundary), Canada to the north, and Spokane and Stevens counties as the only Washington neighbors. If your Medicare Advantage plan is leaving Pend Oreille County, the coverage you pick next has to work in that setting.

How people here get their Medicare

CMS counts, July 2026	Pend Oreille County	Washington
People with Medicare	4,686	1,586,306
Original Medicare	3,251 (69.4%)	50.3%
Medicare Advantage and other health plans	1,435 (30.6%)	49.7%
Dual-eligible (Medicare and Apple Health)	807 (17.2%)	15.1%
Medicare because of a disability	503 (10.7%)	8.0%
Stand-alone Part D	2,204	503,353
Part D through a Medicare Advantage plan	1,321	752,773
No Part D of either kind	1,161 (24.8%)

Source: CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, July 2026. Counts are people, not plans; percentages and the "no Part D" row are computed from CMS totals.

Read it this way. About 1,435 people in the county were in Medicare Advantage and similar plans; everyone else uses Original Medicare. So a plan leaving affects a limited number of households, but the help is spread out: the county's SHIBA sponsor is based in Colville, over in Stevens County, and the Area Agency on Aging is in Spokane. Phone help is the realistic starting point.

Look also at the dual-eligible and disability lines: each is higher here than statewide. Those are the two groups for whom a plan ending is most complicated, so they get their own sections below.

Doctors across the Idaho line, or in Spokane

The Department of Health lists one hospital in the county: Newport Hospital and Health Services, a critical access hospital at 714 West Pine Street in Newport. Its board describes it as Public Hospital District #1 of Pend Oreille County. If any of your specialists are in Spokane, or across the state line in Idaho, keep this distinction in front of you:

Original Medicare is accepted by any doctor or hospital in the U.S. that takes Medicare. State lines don't matter.
Medicare Advantage plans may require you to use providers in the plan's network and service area for non-emergency care. Look up the Newport hospital, your primary doctor, each specialist and your pharmacy by name in any plan's 2027 directory, and pay special attention to anyone in Idaho.

If you have Apple Health too (807 people)

Dual-eligibles get the most room to maneuver. The December-to-February window applies to you like anyone else, but you are not stuck with it. Every calendar month you may move to a different stand-alone drug plan. Those with full Medicaid can pick an integrated dual plan, which Washington brands Apple Health Medicare Connect, in whatever month one operates near you. And if you receive Extra Help and make no choice at all, CMS places you in a stand-alone Part D plan so January 1 doesn't arrive with zero drug coverage. Treat that assignment as a placeholder: hold it up against your actual prescriptions. Extra Help members are also exempt from the Part D late penalty.

Not on Apple Health but finding Medicare costs hard to carry? HCA runs the Medicare Savings Programs, which pay Medicare premiums and skip the asset test, and getting one brings Extra Help along with it. Washingtonconnection.org takes applications.

If you are under 65 (503 people)

This is where I'd slow down. For someone on Medicare through a disability, the Medigap route is uncertain. Federal law generally doesn't require insurers to sell Medigap to people younger than 65, Washington is missing from the CMS guide's list of states that force under-65 sales, and OIC itself calls these options "more limited." The state's ending-plan statute, RCW 48.66.055, as we read it, sets no minimum age, yet it reaches only the policies a company is already selling to new buyers. OIC's approved-plan list shows under-65 pricing for some companies and not others.

Practical upshot: get a yes in writing, or at least on the phone with a name attached, that a Medigap policy is open to you and what it costs, before you walk away from Medicare Advantage. If nothing workable turns up, a different Medicare Advantage plan may carry you until your 65th birthday, which starts a six-month Medigap open enrollment of its own.

Deadlines

Your current plan pays through December 31, 2026. Choose by that date and the new coverage begins January 1, 2027, without a day's gap. Miss it and the special enrollment period for ending plans still runs December 8, 2026 to February 28, 2027, with January choices starting February 1 and February choices March 1. Choose nothing and Medicare enrolls you in Original Medicare on January 1, without a drug plan unless you have Extra Help. For anyone going to Original Medicare (with the under-65 caveats above), the guaranteed issue right to buy certain Medigap plans under RCW 48.66.055 lasts until March 4, 2027, and OIC suggests applying from November 1. See the statewide Washington guide to discontinued Medicare plans for the plan letters and Part D limits.

Help for Pend Oreille County

SHIBA: OIC lists Rural Resources Community Action, based at 956 South Main in Colville, as the county's SHIBA sponsor (509-684-8421). On October 26, 2026 its OIC listing read "Currently not accepting appointments," with a referral to Medicare at 1-800-633-4227. The statewide SHIBA line is 800-562-6900, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Community Living Connections: Rural Resources has offices in the county itself, in Newport (333211 Hwy 2 #200, 509-447-9997) and in Ione (210 Houghton, 509-442-3223).
Area Agency on Aging: Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, 1222 North Post, Spokane, which serves Ferry, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman counties.
Rides: Rural Resources runs volunteer transportation for Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens county residents, mainly for medical and social service appointments, usually to larger communities. Reserve at 1-800-776-9026.
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and Medicare Plan Finder, any time (the phone line closes on some federal holidays).

Federal Medicare rules and Washington statutes decide how this works, and your own plan notice fixes your dates; talk it over with 1-800-MEDICARE, SHIBA or a licensed agent before you change anything.

Pend Oreille County FAQ

Is there a hospital in Pend Oreille County?

The Department of Health lists one: Newport Hospital and Health Services in Newport, a critical access hospital run by Public Hospital District #1 of Pend Oreille County.

Will my coverage work with an Idaho doctor?

Original Medicare works with any provider in the U.S. that accepts Medicare. A Medicare Advantage plan may limit non-emergency care to its network and service area, so check each Idaho provider by name.

I'm under 65 and on Medicare. Can I get a Medigap policy when my plan leaves?

Possibly, but it is not certain. As we read it, Washington's guaranteed issue law for ending plans has no age limit, but insurers only have to offer policies they sell to new customers, and not all offer under-65 policies. Call SHIBA at 800-562-6900 first.

Where can I get Medicare help in person near Newport?

Rural Resources has Community Living Connections offices in Newport and Ione. The county's SHIBA sponsor listing said on October 26, 2026 that it was not taking appointments, so start with the statewide SHIBA line or 1-800-MEDICARE.

Your Medicare plan is leaving Pend Oreille County. Here's how to handle it